ARERA adopts deliberation 336/2026/R/eel confirming safeguard-service tender rules and TIV amendments for Italy's 2027-2028 biennium

ARERA formally adopted deliberation 336/2026/R/eel on 29 September 2026, replacing the Allegato A to deliberation 388/2024/R/eel with a new Allegato A governing the competitive procedures (procedure concorsuali) for assigning the electricity 'safeguard' (salvaguardia) last-resort supply service for the 2027-2028 biennium. The decision confirms the existing nine territorial areas, the single-round auction mechanism with a repair auction for undersubscribed areas, participation and financial solidity requirements, and the tariff formula (Omega parameter plus monthly average PUN Index GME). It also amends the TIV (Testo Integrato Vendita ultima istanza) to require notification to activated customers via certified email or registered mail per decreto legislativo 3/2026, removes the obligation for safeguard suppliers to hold two separate dispatching contracts (effective 1 January 2027, since TIDE's UVZ salvaguardia units will ensure separation within a single contract), and retains the existing reintegration-mechanism penalization level for non-recoverable charges related to non-disconnectable customers.

This decision locks in the operational and economic rules under which safeguard-service suppliers will bid for and deliver last-resort electricity supply to non-domestic and medium/high-voltage customers lacking a free-market supplier for two more years, directly affecting supplier participation costs, guarantee requirements, and dispatching contract structures, while also confirming price-formation mechanics tied to wholesale reference prices.

The deliberation is largely a confirmatory/refining act rather than a redesign: ARERA explicitly chose not to run a fresh consultation, citing that the substantive framework was already consulted via document 332/2024/R/eel and that no material market discontinuities emerged from data provided by incumbent safeguard suppliers. The operationally meaningful changes are procedural/administrative — removal of the dual dispatching-contract obligation (simplifying operations from 1 January 2027 as TIDE's UVZ salvaguardia units take over the separation function) and updated customer-notification channels mandated by a separate legislative change (decreto legislativo 3/26). The retained penalization level for non-recoverable charges reflects continued regulatory caution around wholesale price volatility. Because the core auction mechanism, territorial configuration, and tariff formula are all being carried forward unchanged, this event is best read as continuity/stability signaling for safeguard suppliers ahead of the 2027-2028 tender cycle, with narrow but concrete operational simplifications embedded via TIDE integration.

ARERA deliberation 336/2026/R/eel, amending the TIV (Testo Integrato Vendita ultima istanza) and Allegato A to deliberation 262/2026/R/eel; implements decreto-legge 73/2007, decreto MASE 23 luglio 2024 n.265, and decreto legislativo 210/2021 as amended by decreto legislativo 3/2026; supersedes Allegato A to deliberation 388/2024/R/eel

TIV amendments referencing Allegato A1 (guarantee provisions) take effect · 1 Dec 2026

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